a practical guide to hiring the right local seo agency: what to ask, what to avoid, and how to judge results beyond vanity rankings.
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when someone searches “local seo (opens in a new tab) agency”, they’re usually past the learning stage. they’re comparing partners and trying to avoid wasting six months on vague reports and no real movement.
this checklist is designed to help you choose an agency that aligns with how google (opens in a new tab) actually works — and avoids the tactics that create short-term spikes and long-term risk.
google’s local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and prominence. the right agency should be able to explain these clearly and map their work to each one.
source: google business profile help (opens in a new tab)
local seo can’t be measured only by a keyword list. decide what matters:
if an agency can’t translate “rank higher” into specific customer actions, you’ll end up with a report that looks good and a business that doesn’t.
good answers sound like systems, not hacks.
there’s a difference between “publishing content” and “publishing helpful content.”
google explicitly emphasizes helpful, reliable, people-first content and warns against pages created primarily to attract search visits rather than help users.
read: creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (opens in a new tab)
google’s spam policies call out doorway abuse and keyword stuffing — both are common in low-quality “local seo agency” offers.
read: google search spam policies (opens in a new tab)
ask for evidence you can check, not stories.
if everything is “confidential” and “we can’t share anything”, treat that as a signal — not a constraint.
rankings matter, but they’re not the product. the product is customers.
at minimum, your reporting should include:
google also notes that it primarily uses page content to generate snippets, so vague pages and vague reporting often go together.
read: how snippets work + meta descriptions (opens in a new tab)
if you want to stay on google’s good side, you want a partner that is allergic to spam tactics.
when evaluating a local seo agency, score each category 0–2:
if you want a partner who ships the work and measures outcomes:
